Anti-theft devices are well known and include electronic devices, such as alarms which directly disable the engine or ignition unless bypassed by an authorized operator using with a special key or electronic code. In addition to being relatively expensive, these electronic devices, because of their relatively high sensitivity, sometimes cause erroneous alarms to occur due to their response to unintentional physical force or movement. Furthermore, these electronic devices are susceptible to the owner's own forgetful habits. Consequently, such alarms are frequently activated accidentally by persons, such as parking lot or service station attendants, passengers seeking entry into the vehicle, or the owners themselves that neglect to disable the alarm before entry into the vehicle.
Non-electronic, anti-theft devices are also well known and may be of the type that interlock the steering wheel with another operator control mechanism, such as a brake pedal, or with an interior portion of the vehicle. Some of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,190,090 (Zaidener); 4,432,432 (Martin); 4,699,238 (Tamir); and 4,961,331 (Winner). These mechanical devices, because of their awkward shapes and lengths, are somewhat difficult to use and are time consuming to be put into place, especially, while being seated behind the steering wheel. Furthermore, some of these devices are relatively large and must be stored in the vehicle's trunk, thereby, preventing the device from being readily available for installation.
Another group of non-electronic, anti-theft devices that can be attached to a steering wheel are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,103,524 (Mitchell, et al); 4,304,110 (Fain); 4,738,127 (Johnson); and 5,024,069 (Hull, Jr., et al). These devices have one or more appendages that project outward from the steering wheel thereby preventing its complete or full operational rotation. Not all of these devices are compact enough to allow them to be conveniently stored in the vehicle's passenger compartment, and even those that are compact are normally kept under the front seat where the devices are sometimes exposed to dirt and water. During their usage, these devices undesirably transfer the stored dirt and water to the person retrieving and installing the device or onto the steering wheel where the devices are attached. Furthermore, even when installed, visual gaps exist along various locations between the device itself and the steering wheel which give the appearance, to a potential thief, as insertion slots for a wedging device, such as a pry bar. For such situations, substantial damage to the vehicle, especially, the steering wheel could result, even though the thief is unsuccessful in his or her attempt to pry the device from the steering wheel.
Anti-theft devices that are built-in or incorporated into a steering wheel are also known and one such is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,429 (Wang). The Wang patent discloses a steering wheel that encloses a recess track, located behind and under the steering wheel, having a sliding steel rod therein that can be extended outward and then locked in place to restrict movement of the steering wheel. This anti-theft device, because of its location, may obstruct the path for the deployment of an Air Bag Supplemental Restraining System (ABSRS). Furthermore, this anti-theft device, because of its location, must be taken into account to preserve the safety features of the energy-absorbing steering column commonly found in automobiles.
A further anti-theft device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,810 (Toy) and comprises a gripping member which clamps around a steering wheel and prevents any rotation thereof. The gripping member is attached to an end of a telescoping steel bar which is retractable into the vehicle's dashboard when not in use. This anti-theft device suffers a drawback in that it must be integrated into the design of the vehicle's dashboard and may even necessitate the need to relocate some of the instrument gauges of the dashboard into locations that are undesired from an operator's viewing position.
The prior art seems to suffer from the drawbacks of having anti-theft devices that are not readily available, those that may interfere with the Air Bag Supplemental Restraining System, those that may have an undesired impact on an energy-absorbing steering column, and those that may even necessitate an undesired dashboard arrangement for the vehicle. It is desired to provide an anti-theft device that does not suffer from these prior art drawbacks.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel having a built-in anti-theft device which prevents complete, or even partial, rotation of the steering wheel so as to inhibit unauthorized operation of the vehicle.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device that is incorporated into the steering wheel and does not necessitate any modification to automotive components, such as the dashboard, located within the vehicle's interior.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device which is highly visible and conspicuous to an observor outside of the vehicle to thereby create a significant deterrent to prevent either break-in or theft of the vehicle.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide an anti-theft device that is built into the steering wheel and does not impact on any of the safety features of an energy absorbing steering column or on an Air Bag Supplemental Restraining System.
Still further, another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device for automobiles that works well with already existing anti-theft protection, such as electronic alarm security systems and ignition key interlocked steering wheels.